Madam Luo had taken Zunnie under her wings after Zunnie's mom passed away. Since Zunnie was her daughter's best friend, she had come to adore her like her own. She and Mrs. Bai were good friends from college and their daughters just like them, grew to be great friends. Mrs. Bai had asked Madam Luo to take care of Zunnie as if she were her daughter before she died; Madam Luo kept her friend's words and became the mother figure in Zunnie's life.
As they strolled through the garden, Madam Luo couldn't help but miss her good friend.
"How is work, my dear? Have you been eating properly?" Madam Luo inquired.
"Work is good. It's busy but I'm having fun. I try to eat two meals a day. I usually forget when I'm busy, but I make up for it with a good dinner." Zunnie smiled and sat next to Madam Luo on the bench.
"That's good, that's good. Your mom would be proud of the beautiful and hard-working woman you are. I'm proud too. Come to me with anything, okay…"
"Thank you mom, I will."
"Let's have dinner next week..."
"Mhm"
They chatted for a while longer, then headed back to the art room to see if Nyo was done. He was almost done with his drawing.
When he was finally done, the drawing showed a white lily. He handed it to Madam Luo who complimented his beautiful and clean work.
"Thank you little Nyo, I love it. One day you're going to become a great painter and I'll buy all your paintings."
"I'm not going to be a painter…" a not so happy Nyo said and pouted.
"Ha-ha…and why is that?"
"Well, I like what Zunnie sis does. She helps people. Painters don't help people."
"Oh, my…you're too cute. But do you know you can also help people with your paintings?"
"Nope"
"When people buy your paintings, they will be happy. People buy paintings they like and that makes them happy and when people are happy they smile a lot. So, yes you can help people feel better with your paintings…okay." Madam Luo explained to Nyo and pinched his cheeks.
"Ohhhh, then I'll think about it." Nyo grinned.
Both Madam Luo and Zunnie laughed seeing how unbothered Nyo seemed to be. He had no idea how talented he is.
Before they left for dinner Zunnie and Nyo went to the main mansion to say hello to Mr. Luo. He was glad to have visitors and tried to get them to stay for dinner, but Zunnie declined since she promised Nyo a dinner at the restaurant he saw on the television.
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The restaurant Nyo mentioned was a luxurious French restaurant Zunnie had dined at a few times. Le Mange, an exquisite French fine dining restaurant opened in Italy a year ago. Zunnie had fallen in love with French cuisine from her numerous trips with her family. The first time she traveled to France had been with Sanua for her birthday and she really loved it.
Seeing how ecstatic her darling Nyo gawked, Zunnie smiled and ruffled his neatly brush black hair.
The employees were familiar with Zunnie because she was a regular. Seeing she and Nyo walk in, they welcomed them warmly. Zunnie chose to sit at her usual spot and listened with a smile as Nyo rumbled on about how happy coming to the restaurant made him; he began taking pictures as if he were a child at a candy store.
"Lyle and Rubio are going to be so jealous when I show them these pictures." He said while giggling.
In Zunnie's eyes, a warm glow lingered. Hearing him speak melted her heart; she was so grateful he was part of her life.
"I'm glad you like it, buddy. What do you want to eat?"
"Umm… I want everything!"
"Ha-ha, you're funny. Let's settle for what you can eat today. We can always come back."
"Mhm…then I want steak, fries, garlic lobster and champagne."
"What do you know about champagne?" An amused Zunnie asked, hearing him mention he wanted champagne.
"Well there was champagne on TV... so, I want it too."
"Champagne has alcohol, but I will get you the one without... okay." She informed him and called over the waitress.
"Mhm…"
"Nyo, I want to speak with you about school; is that okay?"
"Zunnie sis you know I don't want to be a painter, right?"
"Mhm…but I want you to know it's okay to not have something you want to be right now, you're still young. You can be whatever you want, I'll still love you since you'll always be my little Nyo."
A gleeful Nyo smiled, "Yup Zunnie sis, but I can't be your little Nyo when I'm in high school, okay…because I won't get any girl as my friends."
Zunnie was so entertained by his plea, she burst out laughing. Ah, her little boy was surely growing up.